


Time

by Starbuck09256



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Fluff, MSR, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbuck09256/pseuds/Starbuck09256
Summary: How does she measure the universal invariant.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Time

The parking lot is bleak at 9pm on a Friday night. The rain droplets race down her windshield as the lights from ambulances dance along the darkness. She sits in her car, and has been sitting there for a solid 15 minutes. Playing with her gold cross, running it back and forth across the longer than it was before chain. The chain he replaced for her, after it was broken in Antarctica. She’s here to pick him up and she knows in her heart when she walks in, he will have that goofy grin and the shy smile, he’ll wrap his arms around her and say “Thanks for busting me out Doc,” like he normally does. But for some reason she can’t get herself to move, to open the door and step out into the night. To be his knight in shining armor, after he played damsel in distress by chasing after a ship not quite a century old. She wonders about what he said in the hospital, has been thinking about it for the last 24 hours nonstop. She’s barely slept, each time she closes her eyes, her lips tingle and her dreams are of red dresses and Skinner dressed as a Nazi. It’s not ok, this constant ditching her. She thought they were more than that now. They don’t have the x-files to fall back on. They need to behave, tread lightly if they ever hope to see the cold damp basement again. He easily could have died this time, she would’ve never found him. Never seen his body floating on a piece of wood, dragging his sorry ass on board and whispering how she had him. She breathes in a deep breath to calm her emotions as she wipes a stray tear from her eyes. She can blame anything he thinks he sees in her eyes on the rain outside. “I love you,” he said it, said it to her finally after a delusional rambling. “You saved the world,” she thinks of the countless times he has saved her world. Saved her from the darkness that has found them. She bites her lip prepares herself to feel his chest against her, smell his aftershave that she dropped off yesterday. She knows what is in store she can already hear the tremble of his voice as it resonates in her ears and then after she drives him home, after she helps him get undressed and ready for bed, after she touches his skin, chuckles at his jokes, marvels at the strength and determination of the man she is so desperately in love with. She will need to have the strength to get in her car and remember the sound of his voice when he finally said he loved her. She just has to make it through the next hour then she can go home and rationalize away the feelings they both have been sharing too much of. She can do this, not let her guard slip as she helps him yet again, praying that she has the strength should he mention his love again to not do anything stupid. Don’t tell him what you feel Dana. Just scold him like the man child he is. She can do this, has done it for years. That was before though, before she realized he went to the ends of the earth for her with a gunshot wound to the head. Before he confessed so much to her in his hallway. Before he went and did something so stupid, knowing she would find him, save him, and save the world. Before he pulled her back into his trap and gazed into her soul with three little words almost crumbling the remaining shred of professionalism she could have with him. 

Deep Breath

Breathe Dana

One hour, be strong. Get out of the car. Pull your jacket close but still let some rain hit your face and hair and for god’s sake do not tell Mulder you love him too. 

He probably doesn’t remember, that’s why you said oh brother remember. 

Hold Strong.

She steps out the rain light and airy in the cool evening. She lets it hit her face, cleanser her a bit before she starts to race across the parking lot towards the hospital entrance. Her heels click lightly as she reaches the automatic doors. The warm air and smell of antiseptic reach her nostrils. She clicks through the hallways. Advantages of being with the FBI and a medical doctor means not a lot of people asking you silly questions. 

His room up on the right, she looks through the glass window in the door. His back to her as she sees him putting on his shirt. The long lines of his back covered by his white undershirt. The crisp blue shirt that she picked up just in case he took a little longer to get out of the hospital and they had to make a mad dash to an opr meeting about his misadventure on the bureaus dime. Being prepared for Kershs wrath has taught them a few new skills. 

She knocks lightly shuffling her feet as she feels the door open. She smiles up at him and starts to walk forward but before she knows what is happening his arms are around her. God he is so warm, so strong, and she fits so perfectly. He hugs her, wraps her up like his own personal christmas present, and while normally she does relish this feeling, lives in part for these moments where it can be just them, violating all the rules of professional conduct, now is not the time. He knows what his hugs do to her, knows they are a not so secret weakness. “Hi Scully,” he says but doesn’t let her go, his fingers gently caress her back and she knows she needs to stop this. She starts to pull away, pulling herself together at the same time. But he doesn’t let her, he pulls her back closer mutters into her ear. “I’m sorry,” but she does pull away. I’m sorry doesn’t really cut it, after making her freak out searching high and low for him. Practically begging that rat bastard Spender to help her, and Kersh. She kissed Skinner for christ sakes, all to find his stupid ass floating lifelessly in the water. She remembers how her heart stopped, how all her fear wanted to pour out of her soul when they lifted him out of the cold water. 

She pulls back and her words come out before she has a chance to stop them. “You can’t just hug me and think everything is going to be ok. Everything is not ok Mulder.” her voice shutters towards the end and she turns her head, pursues her lips to gain some control. She expected the “I’m sorry,” he knows how to play her emotions, using those profiler skills in ways that test her patience and her rational mind. 

He steps back pulls her gently out of the door frame and into the hospital room, still slightly aglow with a dimmed lamp in the corner. He cups her face, cradling it in his hands. She swallows hard, tries not to meet his eyes for a second. He strokes her cheeks with his thumbs and it feels so nice. He kisses her forehead, and then rests his forehead against hers as she takes a shuttered breath. He pulls back gives her a sad smile. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t tell you.” She looks at him sternly. She nods her head and starts to turn to grab his bag that is sitting on the chair, so she can drive him home and go home to her soft bed. He turns her back towards him. She looks at him, he’s not forgiven and he knows it. But his eyes are soft, the flecks of gold are shining through even with the soft light of the room. “I love you,” he says it again looking her straight in the eye and she can’t help but gasp and he wraps his arms around her again. She is shocked as he nuzzles her hair with his nose. “I love you so damn much Scully,” she rubs his back closes her eyes and licks her lips. “They really drugged you up good huh?” she says trying to lighten the seriousness of the room. He pulls back looks at her. “I kissed you on that ship Scully, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. And sometime soon we are going to find our moment, where I get to kiss you and tell you I love you, and you won’t be so skeptical anymore.” 

She shakes her head laughs at him as she moves towards the chair. “Now I know they gave you the good stuff, me not skeptical…” she grabs his bag in her hand pulling it up to her shoulder, turns to look at him. He chuckles shuffles his feet a bit, he pulls the door open for her with his arm outstretched. She walks in front of him out the door and as he closes it he grabs her hand sliding his fingers against hers intertwining them. He leans towards her ear to whisper. “Real soon Scully, that moment is going to erase all those doubts.” She can’t help but squeeze his hand as she looks straight ahead. “I look forward to it.” She mutters into the fluorescent corridor as they leave.


End file.
